


Stuffed Cubbies

by SpongieK



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Delinquent!Amethyst, F/F, Fluff, Nerd!Peridot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-21
Updated: 2016-04-24
Packaged: 2018-04-27 11:51:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5047438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpongieK/pseuds/SpongieK
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>High School AU.<br/>Peridot never stayed later than necessary after school, but she didn't have a choice this time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Detention

**Author's Note:**

> Basic fluff that's been in my head. Might continue with other High School AU goodness.  
> In my head this world operates like the High School Promo Art. The gems are still gems, just in high school. Because.

Peridot kept her head down as she entered the unfamiliar classroom to make sure nobody saw she’d been crying. She didn’t look up at the teacher’s face, but she knew they were raising an eyebrow at her entrance. She wasn’t supposed to be here, she was never supposed to be here. The desk near the back squeaked a bit when she took a seat. She cradled her head in her arms on the surface and pretended to be asleep. By now normally she’d be heading home with Jasper to predictability and the assurance that she’d completed another day as one of the top minds at Beach City High. Peridot squeezed her eyes together. Can’t cry here, not now.

The door opened and shut once more. A few minutes later the teacher informed her that detention would last an hour. Just one hour and she could forget how stupid she’d been. How she screwed up something so simple and easy and ruined her life. No, no, no, she can’t think about that or she’ll cry. Thinking about nothing was her only option. Her attempts at actual sleep ended in abysmal failure. A soft rhythm at the front of the room told her that the teacher had long forgotten their duties to the music on their phone. She sighed and turned her head.

“Hey.”

Peridot nearly jumped out of her skin. She’d been completely oblivious to the other student in the room, even less privy to the fact that she’d taken the seat right next to her.

Amethyst was bit of an unknown factor. Peridot was in every honors course available in the curriculum and therefore only shared gym with Amethyst. Other than that, she ate lunch with the other “Crystal Gems,” as they called themselves, and Peridot wrote her off as just another meathead clod. A face she’d seen enough to know their name, but little else.

“You got any gum?” the purple girl went on when Peridot didn’t respond.

“N-No,” Peridot responded, perhaps a little too curtly. Then again, what did she care for her feelings? No doubt Amethyst was a veteran of this process. She was known for skipping classes and slacking off. A serious student like Peridot certainly had nothing to share with her.

Amethyst stared at her for a while, much to Peridot’s dread. Amethyst leaned on her palm and said, “Look, my phone’s dead and we got about fifty minutes left in here.”

“Your point being?” Peridot squinted.

“Wanna’ talk?”

“Talk?” Peridot asked slowly.

“You know, two people communicating?” Amethyst smirked.

“I am familiar with the concept of...talking,” Peridot shot back in annoyance. This only caused Amethyst to chuckle. “What’s so funny?” Peridot asked.

“Nothing, nothing,” the girl tried her best to wipe off her smile, “It’s just the way you talk, it’s….”

Peridot always knew she was academically capable, but her social skills always fell below average. She was painfully aware of the archetype this forced her into. That didn’t mean she was stupid, though, she knew when she was being made fun of, and she abhorred the experience.

A surge of defensiveness pulsed through her, Peridot could feel herself turning red, “I’m sorry, I forgot that a delinquent like you must be used to words from a third-grade reading level. I’ll be sure to keep that in mind for future drivel.”

The words hung in the air and Peridot realized her mistake a moment later. Amethyst scowled in a way that made Peridot’s stomach feel woefully empty.

“Whatever,” Amethyst grunted and turned her body away, flipping her phone out. Peridot knew she should feel relieved of the burden of socializing, but she didn’t. In fact, this was much worse than before. It was suffocatingly awkward, but why? She shouldn’t need to feel bad, she didn’t do anything wrong. She wasn’t meant to be here, she was never supposed to interact with this girl.

And yet….

Every new minute stretched longer than the last. Peridot felt herself sweating. She wasn’t used to hurting others. Sure, she’d been pushed around quite a bit in her days (although those incidents grew scarce once she associated herself with Jasper), she was familiar with being on the other end. Peridot assumed her tormentors had gotten some pleasure out of her misfortune. They seemed to enjoy the power, at least. Peridot didn’t feel good. Today was ending on a sour note already, no need to rush it into a grave.

“S-Sorry,” Peridot muttered. Amethyst looked over her shoulder, but her eyes told Peridot she didn’t believe her. Peridot swallowed, “I...I didn’t mean to-...mm, I’m not feeling well. I’m not used to being here. I didn’t like being laughed at, but still...I take it back.”

Amethyst turned around, “Okay. I mean, I guess I understand, but I wasn’t laughing at you. I just don’t hear people talk like that. It’s…different, almost cute.”

That was not anticipated.

Peridot’s brain went blank. What did people do in these situations? These sorts of things happened to other girls with better composure. These words were said to them, not her. Peridot couldn’t spend much time calculating, though, Amethyst would want a response.

“A-Ah, yes,” she managed, “Mm, n-naturally.”

Was she dead? Negative.

Amethyst chuckled again, but it had a different ring to it this time. Peridot liked it.

“What exactly are you in for, anyway?” Amethyst asked. Peridot knew it was just a casual question, but she tensed anyway.

“Mm...you first,” Peridot deflected.

The other girl shrugged, “Playing hookie, boring right? But you don’t end up here often, that’s not hard to figure out. Teacher’s probably love you, so you must have done something real bad.”

It was simple curiosity, nothing to get upset about. Peridot fidgeted, “M-my teacher thought I cheated on our test.”

Amethyst raised her eyebrows, “So, what, you were framed?”

“I don’t know. Apparently another girl’s paper looked very similar to mine, misspelling included. He called us both up and I got flustered. As you can see I’m not the best speaker under normal conditions, add pressure and it just gets worse,” Peridot sped through her explanation to minimize pain, “I looked guilty, she didn’t.”

Amethyst still looked confused, “That doesn’t make sense, you get top marks all the time probably, right? Why would you need to cheat?”

Peridot shrugged.

“That’s stupid, you should put a tack on his seat or something...you know, if people still do that.”

Peridot appreciated the sentiment, but saying it out loud had made it all real again. All the other feelings that she’d been trying to suffocate were bursting through with new life. Before she knew what was happening, tears were falling onto the tops of her hand. Peridot tried to hide but they kept spilling over. Amethyst shifted in concern, which made Peridot feel all the worse. It would be better if she could just dig a hole and stay there. She should be smarter than this, better. It was silly to get worked up like a child.

“I-It’s nothing,” Peridot whispered sharply, “It’s stupid, nothing at all. I’m being stupid.”

Peridot felt a hand on hers. She couldn’t look Amethyst in the eye. She could hardly stand anyone seeing her right now, like this, so small.

Her body started to curl in on itself when Amethyst spoke, “No, you’re not”

It was impossible. People don’t like when other people cry. They avoid them. That’s a simple fact. There should be an awkward silence, a tense air, some form of  nonverbal “stop” to give Peridot a reason to compose herself as quickly as possible. But Amethyst wasn’t stopping her, and that made this all the more dangerous.

“It’s so small, it’s not a big deal. I know that. Colleges probably won’t care” Peridot choked, “But he just wouldn’t believe me, I couldn’t do anything! I can’t do anything against that! I’m just not…!”

She didn’t quite know what adjective she was grasping for. Peridot was used to her academic prowess protecting her where her other skills lacked. Teachers gave her leeway in lieu of more problematic students. She thought she’d learned the system, but it was just a false sense of security. Facts hadn’t saved her, a convincing fiction rendered her powerless to the point of being a blubbering mess in public.

Eventually, her body grew tired of weeping and calmed itself ever so slightly. She wiped her nose with the back of her hand and was disgusted to find that wouldn’t be enough. Amethyst walked over to the teacher’s desk wordlessly. The teacher--who had now clearly been staring, unsure of what to do in the situation--politely ignored the fact that both girls were meant to stay seated. Amethyst plucked the tissue box from the desk and returned with her offering. Peridot dared not look her in the eye as she accepted it. She estimated it would be a month before she stopped replaying this humiliation in her mind.

“Hey, um, I have this game on my phone that’s two-player. The battery might not last, but…,” Amethyst trailed off gently.

Peridot sniffed, “We’re supposed to be silent and miserable, won’t he mind?” she gestured to the front of the room where the supervisor had once again tactfully gone back to his music.

Amethyst shrugged, “Just keep it under the desk and look up every so often. It’s an old ‘delinquent’ trick.”

Peridot wasn’t very good at the game. She was disturbed and a little patronized by the smiling breakfast foods on the screen telling her to match them up in various patterns. All the same, she was grateful the phone lasted until the end of their time. She wasn’t strong enough to talk, and maybe Amethyst knew that, but she didn’t want their connection to end due to her own inabilities.

She couldn’t even bring herself to say thank you. Amethyst didn’t seem to hold it against her and gave a small friendly wave as they parted ways. Peridot was empty, drained of emotional energy. But she wasn’t unhappy.

The next day she was on her way to first period when the Algebra door slammed open. Her teacher ran down the halls in a sweat a dashed out of sight. Peridot and some of the students who had witnessed the odd behavior checked inside the room but only found papers strewn across the room and an open window. By lunchtime, rumors of a rampaging purple bull had diffused across the campus. Amethyst was called into the office it seems, and was given yet another detention slip.

For the first time, Peridot seriously considered getting into trouble.


	2. Wind Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot has to continue exploring new territory as she seeks Amethyst's company again.

**Jasper**

“Last chance to head home.”

“Declined.”

Jasper shrugged, “Okay, it’s just so...not your thing. I don’t want to hear you complaining that you were bored.”

Peridot grunted, but said nothing more. Jasper wasn’t really sure what to make out of Peridot’s sudden fascination with...well, anything that didn’t concern her own GPA. Her little nerdlet had been doing a lot of things recently that were off kilter for her. She’d come home late one night without a concrete answer as to why, and since then always seemed to be lost in thought. Their apartment used to be intermittently bursting with noise, due to the two gems being prone to fervent emotions. The past week, though, had been nothing but quiet contemplation from her roommate. No doubt their neighbor, one Lapis Lazuli, was pleased with this development. Jasper didn’t share the sentiment, but she decided against any confrontation.

They both got out of Jasper’s car and headed towards the softball field. Beach City was not exactly conducive to holding a softball field within the heart of its city. The team had to drive out a couple miles to the outskirts of town routinely for home games and practice. The parking lot was sparse since the game was still an hour away. Jasper scanned the seats and confirmed the lack of attendees. The team wasn’t bad, but women’s softball by virtue of being man-less had difficulty drawing much attention. The only one’s here so early would be the teammates themselves, and some parents.

“They might open concessions soon, if you want something,” Jasper offered.

“Hm,” was all she got out of Peridot.

Jasper frowned, “Okay, well, I gotta’ warm up. You’re on your own for a while.”

Peridot nodded, “Good luck. If you’re as skilled as you say, though, you won’t need it.”

Jasper smirked and gave a small wave as she headed towards the dugout.

She ducked inside and frowned. Garnet’s appearance didn’t surprise her in the least, but that didn’t assuage her irritation. Jasper had no idea what Garnet’s opinion of her was, so the rivalry could be on her end entirely. It wasn’t just that the fusion had beaten Jasper out of a chance of being pitcher, although that didn’t help. Jasper hated the coolness she exuded. It was like a silent confirmation to everyone around her that she was better than them. And Jasper knew that couldn’t be true. If it was, why would she feel the need to stay fused all the time? She was weak, weak and hiding.

As if she could hear the orange baseman’s thoughts, Garnet turned and gave a small nod. The coach urged them out onto the field. They stretched for a while as more people showed up. Jasper looked into the stands and saw Peridot sitting in the center bleachers, doing her homework. She couldn’t really pretend to be surprised by that at least.

Peridot had never shown much interest in Jasper’s athleticism. If anything, it was a source of a few choice “dumb jock” comments being thrown in her direction. She never so much as glanced when Jasper flicked on a game, and any attempt at encouraging an athletic partnership was met with a disgusted noise.

Maybe she was thinking too far into this. She should be happy that Peridot was taking an interest in her hobby. Yes, Peridot is too proud to outright say that’s the reason, she was slow to admit she cared about anything. Perhaps she really had come here just to show her support. Jasper bit down a smile, that was very like her friend.

“Jasper,” Garnet had walked over to her while she had still be thinking. She tossed the softball towards her, easily caught. Without a word they gave yards of space between them and started to toss the ball back and forth, getting their muscles loose and heated. Jasper wondered if Peridot was looking, stealing glances. Jasper stood up straighter, tensed her muscles, threw a bit harder than she should. She dared not look back at the bleachers, if Peridot knew that Jasper had found her out, she’d deny everything and ignore her again. Jasper’s awesome abilities would go to waste.

 

**Peridot**

Peridot had placed herself in the perfect location.

She was not in the habit of approaching others candidly, so this was determined to be the best option to “accidentally” run into Amethyst again. The school week had been of course opportunity to go up and just talk to her again, but it felt unnatural to do so outside of that one afternoon. She simply wasn’t up to it. Not to mention Amethyst lived in a sphere completely separate from hers. To approach her when she was surrounded by the Crystal Gems at school would have been too much pressure, and would have ultimately ended with Peridot embarrassing herself again.

However, if she just happened to be at a friend’s game, the same one that their own Garnet was in? That was just a happy coincidence.

Indeed, their loyalty to the softball team via Garnet was confusing, even a little disturbing. The game was perhaps the least offensive sport to Peridot, so she would simply deal with it for the greater cause. Then the problem of being spotted came around. As much as Peridot thought it tacky to sit in the exact middle, it was the most visible section from the ticket stand. Once a patron entered, they unintentionally glanced towards it. Making it the perfect location for an incidental sighting.

Half an hour before the game, Peridot finished her homework and set about looking as casual as she possibly could. The stands had started to fill in ever so slightly. With every new entrance from the ticket stand Peridot had to remind herself not to stare at it. If she saw Amethyst first, the burden of approaching came to her.

Then again, what if Amethyst saw her and decided against coming to say hi?

Peridot hadn’t thought about that. How amateur! Of course there was a good chance Amethyst would move along. After all, she’d still be with two fourths of the Crystal Gems, would she not think it weird to single out some random awkward gem. Peridot’s thoughts began to race towards the unsavory. Had she made a bigger deal out of their time together after school than it was in reality? Had the window of opportunity for some sort of second interaction passed her by in the week since?  What if Amethyst just decided to not show up at all? Peridot had unintentionally made herself vulnerable without any form of escape.

This was a mistake. Maybe if she left now she could convince Jasper to give her the car keys for just this one time and she could forget about this stupid plan. Peridot looked to the ticket booth to venture further into other escape routes, and there she was. Peridot had looked over just as she had entered. The two had seen each other, made eye contact, there was no mistaking that.

Peridot didn’t have time to mentally smack herself for breaking one of her own rules. She had to act in these critical few seconds before Amethyst could pass her by and their following interactions would be colored by yet another artless encounter.

Peridot waved a bit too enthusiastically, solidifying Amethyst’s attention.

She held her breath. The purple gem smirked and dipped her head in Peridot’s direction. It was then Peridot finally noticed Amethyst’s company, one familiar one not. Pearl held a lot of similar classes with Peridot, the honors students tended to have a lot of overlap. Peridot didn’t really have a strong opinion on the gem other than another adversary to the top of the class. The other companion was a small boy, middle school aged possibly, with dark curly hair and an infectious smile. Peridot had only seen Amethyst with Pearl and Garnet, she didn’t realize there was a kid in the picture, much less a human one.

Sooner than Peridot had anticipated, Amethyst was leading her group over to her. As much as she didn’t know how to plan for failure, Peridot knew much less about success in this situation. Amethyst approached faster than Peridot could fret.

“Hey, nerd,” Amethyst greeted before sliding next to her. Their thighs touched.

“H-Hello!” Peridot yipped.

“Oh, um, Peridot, right?” Pearl politely sat next to Amethyst. Peridot gave a small nod. Pearl seemed uneasy, even a little confused. Perhaps Amethyst had kept quiet about detention. Understandable, Peridot thought as she swallowed, it really wasn’t worth mentioning.

The boy suddenly bounced over to Peridot’s left, instead of the anticipated spot next to Pearl.

“You’re Peridot?” he asked again.

The boy was full of energy, it tired Peridot just to look at him, “Um, yes, human.”

He smiled widely, Peridot had no idea why. She wasn’t well known even in her own school, much less in some random middle school.

“Ohhh, you must be the friend Amethyst was talking about,” the boy beamed.

“Pardon?” Peridot quirked an eyebrow.

“Steven!” Amethyst suddenly interjected, “Uhhh, Peridot, this is steven. Yeah he, uh, he lives with us!”

“O-Oh,” Peridot’s head was spinning. Amethyst almost seemed to care about what Peridot thought of her. However, to assume as much would be a mistake, a narcissistic one at that. Peridot gave the boy a nod, “Pleasure meeting you, Steven.”

Steven continued to smile stupidly. Peridot wasn’t sure what to make of him. She had accounted for Pearl’s presence, but he didn’t seem like he would be much of an interruption. ...An interruption to what, though? Peridot hadn’t thought nearly this far ahead. What was she supposed to say now?

“S-So,” Peridot resolved to continue conversation, “How was your week, Amethyst?”

Amethyst blinked and thought for a moment, “Uhh, it was okay, I guess. School’s a drag though, as always.”

“A-Ah, yeah,” Peridot strained, “school, super lame, right?”

Amethyst chuckled, “Don’t pull a muscle on me.”

Peridot smiled and to her surprise, giggled in response. It wasn’t that this was new for her, she’d found many things humorous enough to warrant laughing in her life. But it was rare, it wasn’t in her nature. She was used to quiet contemplation, to small smiles of happiness. It was different, a change of pace, and thoroughly pleasant.

 

 


	3. Blindsided

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The game continues. Emotions are pulled between particular three gems.

**Peridot**

 

After a few mundane announcements, the first inning swiftly got underway just as Peridot took another bite from the community fry-bucket. Steven had not only insisted upon buying this strange container of fried snacks, but also upon sharing it with everyone else. Well, except Pearl, who had upturned her nose with a polite smile.

“I had no idea you were on the wrestling team,” Peridot covered her mouth while she nibbled, a nicety lost on Amethyst who talked and chewed without a thought.

“Mm-hm!” Amethyst swallowed, “Coach says I’m pretty good. I almost made it to the post-season this year.”

“Almost,” Pearl muttered.

Amethyst’s face twisted into a frown, “Yeah, I said _almost_.”

“Wh-What happened?” Peridot quickly asked to avoid confrontation. It astounded her how little she really knew about Amethyst. She’d figured that all the Crystal Gems got along, to some extent. However, clearly Pearl and her had some sort of tension.

Amethyst shrugged, “Got into a fight with one of the opposing teammates.”

“Isn’t that the point?” Peridot blinked.

“Not when it’s not in the ring,” Amethyst giggled.

Peridot quirked an eyebrow, but asked nothing further, as the home team started to take the bases. She saw Jasper lumber over to first and gave a bit of a wave when she caught her eye. Jasper was smiling for a moment, and just a moment, and then she paused (Peridot would have suspected in thought if this wasn’t Jasper). Then, she gave a small nod with a stiff expression. That was odd. Peridot couldn’t pretend to be familiar with Jasper’s countenance at games, but she was acting...different. As if she was taken aback. Peridot couldn’t imagine why. She was probably overthinking things.

“Jasper’s your roommate right?” Amethyst asked.

Peridot nodded, “Yes.”

“Scary.”

She shrugged, “Not once you get over the yelling. All bark I’m afraid.”

 

 

**Jasper**

Jasper wanted to go home.

A pit in her stomach had formed. Jasper didn’t know why, but she didn’t want to be here anymore. And it was only the first inning. The Charm City Crabs were only on their second batter. Jasper anticipated a no hitter for this half-inning anyway, Garnet was just warming up. At least that would give her some time to cool off. Jasper stretched and gave a quick sigh.

She felt so stupid. She’d convinced herself that Peridot had come for a specific--admittedly short sighted and perhaps self-centered--reason and then become disappointed when it turned out to be something else.

Something else that she couldn’t have anticipated in a million years. The Crystal gems? They’d hardly ever discussed that ragtag group, with the exception of some choice insults slung from Jasper. Peridot had always snorted in amusement, never really having a strong opinion on any of them.

And yet Jasper was absolutely sure that this was not an accident. Peridot was so unapproachable--as someone who had to spend inordinate amounts of time with the gem, she would know--and the likelihood that anyone would chat with her casually and sit with her was incredibly low. Peridot knew how to avoid contact, especially that of the unnecessary variety. No, she had planned this. This was what she had wanted. To schmooze up to that Amethyst, for some reason.

Ugh. She didn’t care. Nope. Screw this, she didn’t care. It was stupid to dwell on it and even stupider that she couldn’t dissipate the hot anger bubbling inside her.

Jasper had lived with Peridot for about seven months now and she’d never seen Peridot smile like that.

“Oy!”

The cry from Garnet was the only warning she got, and it came a split second too late. Jasper took the ball eye-first.

 

* * *

 

Jasper blinked herself awake and immediately wished she’d stayed asleep. Her vision blurred from the sudden light. A groan escaped her lips once her head remembered that it was consumed with aches. She clutched the ice on her right eye to try and ease the pain to no avail.

“You’re not concussed,” Peridot’s voice stated, “So that’s the good news.”

Jasper’s eye throbbed beneath the cold, “Did we win?”

Peridot shifted, “Yes. It was a very smooth game all things considered.”

Jasper couldn’t tell whether that made her feel better or worse. She guessed she should be thankful her team could carry her to victory. Maybe. But she secretly hoped that her absence would have made at least a smidge of difference. Jasper leaned up and noticed she was in the school’s infirmary. The nurse had gone home long before now, Peridot must have supplied the ice. The thought warmed Jasper’s heart.

“That arm of Garnet’s is quite extraordinary,” Peridot unfortunately continued.

Jasper bit back a growl, “Yeah, well, I’m sure we’d all be star players if we kept ourselves in perma-fusion.”

Peridot blinked and quirked an eyebrow, she’d clearly not anticipated how irritated her comment made Jasper. “I suppose you’re right,” Peridot shrugged, but Jasper wasn’t quite ready to let it go.

“You ‘suppose’?” Jasper scoffed, “Spend a couple hours with those Crystal Losers and you’re already swaying their way.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Peridot demanded.

“I didn’t think you just took up an interest in sports for simply the game, but I didn’t think it was because...because…,” Jasper struggled to finish her sentence, but she couldn’t conjure up the words.

“Because I decided to hang out with people other than you?” Peridot spat, “You’re the one always telling me I’m a loser that doesn’t talk to people. Why do you care who I hang out with?”

The last question hung in the air for a moment. Why _did_ Jasper care? She shouldn’t, right? Peridot and her had spent plenty of time together, as per roommate arrangements dictate. Of course Peridot would have other entanglements at some point, it was healthy. Did she really care that Peridot was making friends? No, not really. Yet, when she remembered Peridot’s expression when she looked at Amethyst, Jasper began to feel queasy all over again. However, she knew that explaining all of this to Peridot wasn’t worth it until she could properly word them. The little green nerdlet had no patience for all things illogical. So, for once, Jasper concealed her fury.

“I don’t. Forget it,” Jasper grunted. Before Peridot could insist any further, she stood up with the ice pack and headed for the door, “I’m going to go talk to coach and gather my things. Meet me at the car.”

 

**Peridot**

Peridot couldn’t resist whispering to herself, “What was that?”

Peridot was used to committing social snafus unawares, but for the life of her she could not figure out what had caused Jasper’s outburst of absurdity. Maybe it was something to do with the game. Jasper’s pride was a consistent flaw of hers. Peridot braced herself for a night of Jasper pacing, grunting, and slamming. Hopefully, by the time they would get back to their apartment, Jasper would no doubt have had enough time to blow off some steam.

Peridot picked up her bag and left the empty office. The lights from the softball field solely illuminated the parking lot. By now, most casual attendees had left, leaving the players to hang around with their friends. Amethyst was sitting on the hood of Garnet’s car with the other three in her group chatted with some of Garnet’s teammates. Peridot finally had to realize that the night was over. She couldn’t help but wonder if this social effort was enough so that tomorrow, her and Amethyst wouldn’t go back to just being far off passerby in the halls. She wanted to approach Amethyst, but a cold fear crept over her again. What should she even say? Was it too much to ask for a number? Peridot didn’t want to be embarrassed, least of all in front of _her_.

Peridot bit her lip and started walking towards Amethyst, feeling like the entire parking lot was watching her. She only got about halfway before Amethyst noticed and turned her head towards Peridot with a smile, “How’s the fallen giant?”

Peridot rolled her eyes but immediately felt a wash of relief, “Awake, but due to her cantankerous behavior I might have preferred that not be the case.”

Amethyst snorted, “Eh, yeah, I get it. It sucks when you get pulled from the game.”

“Oh, right, like how you got pulled from the post-season,” Peridot pieced it together out loud and was met with a dry stare from Amethyst. Right, a sensitive topic, stupid Peridot, “...Sorry,” Peridot mumbled as she rubbed her eyes with frustration.

Amethyst waved her hand flippantly, “Eh, no biggie, it was a while ago.”

Amethyst’s tone denoted apathy, but Peridot discerned there was still a pain inside her. Peridot felt an unusual curiosity come over her, she wanted to know about Amethyst. She didn’t want to go back to having to wait for any random chance they might encounter each other in school.

“We...uh, that is,” Peridot cleared her throat, “Let’s exchange numbers.”

Amethyst chuckled, “Yeah, duh. Jeez, Peri you’re so formal.”

And just like that they switched phones and gave their numbers. Something so simple and routine for everyone else, but something so impossible for Peridot. She’d done it. Peridot felt a bit of pride swelling at such a small achievement.

“W-Would you mind if I, uh, gave texts to you?” Peridot asked.

“What else are you going to do? Call me? Pfft, only old people do that,” Amethyst shrugged.

“Uh, yes, of course,” Peridot nodded, stuffing her phone in her pocket. She noticed Amethyst looking at her with an inquisitive expression instead of making a rude comment as she usually did.

“You’re not really used to, like, friends and stuff,” it wasn’t a question.

Peridot wasn’t sure how to respond without feeling pathetic.

Amethyst quickly continued, “I’m not trying to embarrass you, just...great, now I’m a jerk.”

“N-no, it’s okay,” Peridot shook her head and muttered, “You’re not wrong.”

“It’s just odd is all. You’re fun to have around, doesn’t make sense,” Amethyst offered, “What I mean is...we’re going to hang around the pier this weekend so, like, if you want to come…. Consider this a formal invitation.”

Peridot wasn’t sure what, but she must have done something correctly over the last week. These desired results were nothing short of an astronomical success.

“Hm, I will have to check my schedule,” Peridot mused, feigning a “chill” attitude as Jasper would put it, “but I believe that would be alright.”

Amethyst smiled and both of them knew she was lying, “Sure, right.” Amethyst checked over her shoulder to see that her friends were walking back to the car. She yawned, “Well, it’s getting late, time to get home and sleep instead of doing my homework. See you tomorrow Pear-bear.”

“R-right, tomorrow,” Peridot nodded curtly and jogged giddily to Jasper’s car, barely noticing her roommate steaming in the driver’s seat. On the way home, she was in such a good mood she even attempted chatter with Jasper, which was only met with shrugs and grunts. Peridot didn’t care. She had Amethyst’s number.


End file.
